Smile
by Jennifer Wilson
Summary: When Law is told about an ex-Marine lying heavily injured off Swallow Island, he doesn't know what to think. But his legs lead him close to where Cora-san has died. Along the way, he gathers friends and allies as he prepares for his battle with Doflamingo. AU. Canon Divergence.


The amber lead syndrome had caused him to feel a loss in appetite, causing him to skip meals in favour of sleep. He constantly felt fatigued, and sometimes collapsed into unconsciousness without meaning to. Then, he would dream vividly, of his parents being shot down by merciless soldiers, and Lami would be asking for him to go to the festival with her, but instead he would see her collapse and awful white patches sprouting over her petite body like mould cultures. Then, he would see the hospital aflame, and the corpses of his classmates lying on a bloody stretch, with the Sister who had asked him to join them on their escape in their midst.

The worst part was that all the hallucinations were all true. He couldn't wake up and tell himself that it didn't happen, while the reality of his situation stared him in the face in the form of his own white patches.

It was like an eternal nightmare he was living in; he was going to expire within weeks, and his friends and family were already dead, and he could care less for the rest of the world except to _destroy destroy destroy._

But Cora-san changed all that. For the past six months he had confronted numerous hospitals, sometimes explosively, other times leaving with depression hanging over both their heads. Law could appreciate his effort, really. But to hear one doctor after another flee or call the Marines down on them, to hear that _there's no cure, give up, get away from here you filthy-_

Then Cora-san had died, and Law thought, _this is it, this is when I die, because there really is no one else._

Then Bepo came, searching for food in the small stolen skiff he had taken for his own. Law had fought back, chasing down the bear mink (which he had thought was a polar bear until he started walking on two legs) all the way into the forest until he had found him knocking down and giving small shocks that fried the nerves of his assailants.

When Bepo had finished, huffing and puffing, Law had asked if he could see his insides. He _did_ want to know how the mink had issued those shocks like distributing fliers.

It took two full hours to calm Bepo down from an angry, foaming fit. Another hour before a frustrated Law had demonstrated that he _wasn't_ going to take his insides apart by killing him using _Room_ and cutting off his own arm.

Bepo had stuck by him, for better or for worse after that. Apparently, the bear mink had encountered one difficulty after another, because he was not used to currency, had difficulty understanding the more complex parts of government rules, and thus had run afoul of some Marines after taking some of their food without paying.

Law hadn't acquiesced vocally, but Bepo wasn't kicked out of the skiff despite his bulk. The fact that he had soft fluffy fur perfect for a good nap didn't hurt his case after all.

Then, two months after Minion Island, while he was still trying to find a larger ship (because Bepo was a total blanket hog, and their skiff didn't have much mobility in the first place), he had received word that a former Marine was in a coma in an underground clinic. A stranger had paid for his hospital fees, and the former Marine was said not only to have gunshot wounds, but there were severe bruises and burns on his shoulder and it was a _miracle_ he had survived at all.

They _were_ near Swallow Island after all.

When they came to the underground clinic, Law vaguely remembered discussing with the doctor about the patient he had been treating. Apparently, one day, a stranger had arrived with someone so close to death that he probably would have died in the next few days. The doctor had been resigned to the patient dying before treatment, but the burning eyes of determination that the stranger bore convinced him to take a chance. They had succeeded in retrieving him from beyond the brink of death, only for him to lie in a natural coma up till now.

Law's attention had been preoccupied by the fact that Bepo, who usually had a good sense of smell, was shaking his head back and forth repeatedly. Thus, he had asked to see the patient, if only to study him further. Bepo had been unhappy but was understanding of the need to cover up, even as he sweltered under the surgical clothing.

Then Law had stepped into the patient's room, and the floor appeared to disappear below his feet. It was _Cora-san_. He had been heavily bandaged up, and was hooked up to an artificial respirator, but _it was him._

He didn't realise it until Bepo had complained about the tight grip. He looked at his hand, and found it curled around Bepo's fur. Bepo winced as he let go, massaging the part where it had been heavily pinched by Law's grasp and Law had apologised, but his own perception was blurred.

"Law!" Tears continued to run down his cheeks, as he fell to his knees. To him, it was as though a light had appeared in a deep dark tunnel, because his friend was _alive._ After all the _shit_ that Flevance and Doflamingo had thrown at him, something good had came out of it all. _Cora-san was still here._

Someone had came up behind him, and Law had jerked, ready to create a _Room_ in order to escape, but the person had cleared his voice and crossed his arms and said "You're the boy he was looking after, right?" Law's thought processes had stuttered to a halt, and Bepo was tugging at him to get him to move, because the doctor must have told him to go to the consultation room and talk about Cora-san.

The stranger had known about Law, but not particularly well. So he had provided the doctor with a description, and enough money to look after Cora-san for at least two years. The doctor was heavily conflicted, because his clinic wasn't outfitted for long term wards, but had eventually agreed to housing Cora-san for a year until someone else came for him.

After looking through Cora-san's diagnosis (though he knew that it wasn't needed), Law had offered himself as a helper and apprentice. The doctor had looked bemused, had protested, but Law had been firm. The fact that Bepo had been roped in to provide the necessary dewy eyes and soft fluffy paws also helped.

So everyday, Law had wrapped himself in a doctor's coat, and followed the doctor on his house calls. Sometimes, he was called to assist Dr Jonas on various cases, but he had avoided using his own powers, practicing on himself as well as animals in order to get a better grip on his powers. In the evening, when not out on duty, the doctor had taught surgical skills not usually approved in hospitals, and explain the different medicines that could be treated by each disease.

It was like talking with his father all over again, except the doctor was stern and rough around the edges, sometimes barking at him if he had made an error. Law didn't mind though, because the doctor _was_ a genius under his harsh demeanour.

One day, he brought it up with the doctor. That was when the doctor had sat him down and quietly explain his own situation.

Apparently, his home island had once been a prosperous, and peaceful nation. But as the old King was dying, he had foreseen that the advanced medical skills that his home island was famous for would have been abused by the selfish prince. Thus he had decided to move into a different sea altogether, because he didn't want to live in a kingdom that the prince was responsible for.

"That cranky and greedy geriatric Kureha would deal with him." Dr Jonas had said with resignation. "I don't have the energy to fight back." After further research, he had found that Jonas had been a former apprentice of Kureha, but had grown fed up with her and established his own practice, before shifting to North Blue. Because he didn't acquire his license, he was forced to operate underground.

Law became determined to know every last secret that Dr Jonas had held. It was rare that someone with the doctor's experience and knowledge would be willing to take him on as an apprentice with a background as murky as his. In other circumstances, he would have been forced to resort to illegal experiments. (Not that he would have minded.)

In the evenings, while the doctor was doing his check-ups, Law would sit up and hold Cora-san's hands while babbling about what he had done that day. He sometimes placed Cora-san's hand on Bepo's fur, because he had heard that tactile contact was good for people in comas. The doctor had heavily disapproved, citing hygiene, but Law could have sworn that Cora-san's fingers twitched when Law had used a finger to poke at Bepo's nose.

Seven months after he had left Minion Island, Cora-san had woken up.

* * *

The first thing Corazon thought when he woke up was : _I'm alive?_

The second thing Corazon had thought of was: _I want to be unconscious again._

Unfortunately, that didn't happen, because he could hear beeping noises coming from behind him. Furthermore, he felt like the pain was in between _biting and annoying_ to _I'm ready to pass out now,_ which meant that he was nowhere near the sweet oblivion of unconsciousness.

He was in some kind of hospital, which was slightly terrifying because if he had recalled correctly, he had created a bad reputation for himself after all the visits with Law. Perhaps they were after revenge, and had revived him for the express purpose of killing him again? _Especially the ones I blew up.  
_

 _Maybe I shouldn't have let my temper run as wild if I'm fearing a doctor for retribution...Nah. They deserve it._

"Oh, you're awake? Law is currently bathing, but I'm here to conduct a check up on you. How are you feeling?" The doctor...seemed okay as he placed the diaphragm of his stethoscope on Corazon's chest. Corazon's grimace must have been noticeable, because the doctor had frowned as he asked Corazon to focus his eye on the doctor's moving finger and other similar actions.

While the doctor was scolding him for playing with the IV while he was talking, a knock could be heard.

"Oh come in, your friend's awake." One second later, Law appeared on the other side of the bed. He was breathing heavily, which Corazon found to be usually when he was agitated or upset. (How Law had attained these moods were...best left for a later story. It usually had to do with his antics.)

"Cora-san!" Law had shouted. "You're awake."

"Didn't you hear me say so?" The doctor huffed. "Kids this days..."

"You're as mature as me!" Law retorted, before facing Corazon once more.

"How..." Law seemed to have understood the later part, because he crossed his arms.

"Someone found you after you had lost unconsciousness, and brought you here. I found out about it and just happened to be in the area." Law said crossly. Then, a thought came to Corazon.

"Did...it...work?" He said, words slurring.

"What?" Law uncrossed his arms, placing his hands on the bed. "What are you...oh." He glared at Corazon. "Yes, of course it did, you idiot with lack of self preservation! You should be asking about yourself. I'm cured and you're alive, no thanks to you..." Law stared at him in frustration, and the next moment there was a sharp pain as he poked Corazon in the ribs. He wheezed in an undignified fashion.

"Oh... that's good..." He says weakly, but already he could feel his mind sinking back into darkness. As his eyelids slowly lowered, he could pick out the bare traces of the ensuing conversation between Law and the doctor.

"...physically recovered...probably needs physiotherapy..."

"...we'll see...test..."

He sinks back into the abyss of unconsciousness.

* * *

Apparently, being in a coma meant that you couldn't exactly stretch your muscles. While he had avoided the bedsores and what not that Law was engrossed in and he was...not so heavily on, his muscles had atrophied after seven months of immobility, so he has to practice basic movements before exercising to get his strength back.

He is clenching and unclenching his fists when Law comes strolling in. It is clear from his bearing that he wants to _talk._

"Why did you lie to me? You said that he was going to spare you!" He leans heavily into Bepo, who's not bothered by the fact that he's being treated as a cushion.

"Law..." He says, hesitantly. "Yeah. I'm really sorry about lying to you. I didn't want you to hate me..."

"That doesn't matter!" Law spills out. "I don't care that you're a Marine...I knew it all along!" Law rakes his hands through his hair in frustration. "You said you'll be alright! Saying that 'he'll get mad.. but he won't kill me'," he finished, turning something over in his hands.

"I didn't want you to get hurt, Law..." He had hoped that Law would forget about 'Cora-san' and move on with his life, no longer bound by the borders of the White City and his short lifespan. He didn't think about Law's happiness, he realised. He had only been looking at Law's continued survival.

"...Did you know...what it was like..."Law hissed without any venom, "To leave Minion Island...and knowing that you're dead _because_ of me and I couldn't do anything at all...That I was...going to be _alone..._ " Shit, shit, had it really gotten that bad? He knew it would hurt him, but he had thought it would be for the best that Law continued to live on without the shadow of Doffy's brother hanging over him.

"Come here, Law..." His arms felt limp, because he was exhausted after a day of physical therapy (which Jonas had considered 'light' but Corazon felt was too extreme for someone who hadn't moved in seven months...asking to do chin-ups dear gods...) but he was still able to muster the strength to put an arm around Law. Before long, he felt the side of his shirt getting wet with tears. Corazon's own throat burned with emotion and unsaid feelings.

"I'm sorry." Law sniffed, sobbed, but didn't say anything in return as Corazon practically crushed him against his chest. The kid's face was scrunched up with fury but relief, and Corazon thought that he probably needed this hug as much as Law, because both of them were lonely and scared kids left behind by the world which moved only to the wishes of those in power.

"Cora-san?" Law said as he pulled away finally from what seemed like eternity. "What are we to do about Doflamingo?" Corazon doesn't know how to answer that question. On one hand, Doflamingo was a monster in human flesh who shouldn't have been created. He didn't know how his kind and loving parents had given birth to a sociopath willing to tear down others in search of his own narcissistic goals. Corazon also felt that he probably couldn't confront Doffy again, after the failed shootout and having been shot by his own _flesh and blood_.

"Cora-san?" He released the unknowingly tight grip that he had on Law, wincing. He had drifted off into his own thoughts again. The kid was now staring at him seriously, face pinched.

"...We should probably leave North Blue." He didn't know what Doffy planned to do with Dressarosa. Well he did, in the 'How I'm going to take over a country that's part of the World Government and no one is going to stop me' but what Doffy wanted to extract from Dressarosa. He knew as well the blood ties that the Donquixote family had as the former rulers of the passionate country before they became Celestial Dragons, he had been taught that by his family tutors, but even then, he knew the chaos that Doffy would bring to that island's shores as he did so many others. But at the same time, he knew that if he was faced with Doffy again, he wouldn't be able to kill him. The thought of his brother dying was too visceral, and he thinks that Doffy may have been right when he compared Corazon to their father. "Where do you want to go after I recover?"

"We can't run forever." Law says, fingering the bedsheets that Corazon was lying on. "He would always be after me." _The Op-Op Fruit._ Corazon thought in dismay. Yes, Doffy had been planning to get him, and later Law to eat the Devil Fruit in order to perform the Perennial Youth Operation, but he knows that both he and Law would never agree to do so. Now, Doffy's after him, and Corazon can't do a single thing about it, because Doffy wasn't the kind of person to give up the prospects of _immortality._

"I want to kill him."

"Law!"

"A few years from now." Law hastily says. "Even I know I'm not able to catch him now. But once I am bigger and stronger, I'm going to do it. Don't you get it, Cora-san? We would only be free when he's dead." His face is set in stone, and Corazon thinks that any words he was going to say would be pointless. He recalled the tales that the Celestial Dragons would retell, of 'D's stirring up a storm that could engulf the world at large and their largely bulldogish-tendencies in pursuit of their goals. Hell, look at Vice Admiral Garp, look at Roger; bearers of that initial were stubborn to a fault. Law was going to be no different, and Corazon can't quite decide if he likes it, especially when he sees the possible pitfalls of being focused to the point of narrow-mindedness.

Corazon sighed, patting his trousers for a packet of cigarettes that didn't exist. The doctor had glared at him when he asked for his cancer sticks, and the two had gotten into an argument over the merits of a smoke versus the health repercussions. Law had stopped the brewing conflict with a simple 'Most of the people in our world die of violence instead of lung cancer', deflating the doctor's momentum. He still didn't permit Corazon to smoke in his clinic. Law was of no help whatsover to both sides, refusing to go out and get cigarettes on Corazon's behalf, but not objecting when Corazon defiantly said he was going to smoke after his rehabilitation anyway.

Then he leaned to one side, overbalanced, and fell off the bed.

"Oof!" Law hurriedly helped him to lie into a more comfortable position. To his surprise, Law had then proceeded to cover his face with his hands, and was... _giggling?_

"You weren't even in danger of falling, how did you even..." Law started to laugh openly.

"Eh?"

Law finally managed to control himself, and he sat back on the floor, leaning against his hands. "I'm glad...I'm used to you being like that. I thought it wouldn't happen again..."

 _I'm glad you're still alive to do it again._

Corazon could understand that much. So he reached out to rub Law on his hat, causing the kid's head to wobble. "Hey stop that, it's making me dizzy!"

"Ha..." Corazon gave a toothy grin, and the kid's face lit up with the power of a dozen suns.

* * *

A/N: Dr Jonas: named after Jonas Salk, he's a former citizen of (you guessed it) Drum Kingdom! Anyway, the whole plot about him was invented out of cloth, but Kureha had to have someone apprenticing under her if she was 139 years old.

I was originally writing this for another story. Then it blew past 1000 words and it didn't link up to the subplot that it originated from. So I rewrote a bit and added in two view points so that it can act as its own separate story.

I am not a doctor, so I would really appreciate for people to tip me off on any medical mistakes I may have made.

Inspired by 'Of wheat and allergies' by Chrisii and To Live Free by KivaEmber (On AO3)

It's a oneshot, but could end up to be more...so review if you want this to continue. :)


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